Brits Triumph As First Ever Class 40 World Champion Is Decided

Class 40 World Championship 2009

Britain's Tony Lawson and his Concise team are the inaugural Class 40 Worlds Champions, taking the title after a grandstand finish on the Solent.

It could not have been tighter at the top going into the final day of racing at the inaugural Class 40 World Championship, with just five points separating the top five boats.

The day was not without incident as a major collision before the first start between Wilfred Clerton's CGMER and Mike West's Keysource - who had been lying in second overall going into the final day - had the two boats racing in to the River Hamble for repair. Unfortunately neither made a return to the race area signalling the end of West's hopes of winning the title.

Meanwhile on the water, a determined Simon Clarke on Clarke Offshore posted two first places in the first two races of the day with overnight leader Tony Lawson on Concise relinquishing his grip on the top spot posting a second and a fourth. The Chilean team skippered by Felipe Cubillos on Desafio Cabo de Hornos was hot on their heels posting a fourth and second; unfortunately it was not enough to keep him in the running for the title going into the last race.

The Championship title was taken in the final race by Lawson's team on Concise crossing the line ahead of Clarke Offshore. Clarke's three-place penalty in the Round the Island Race proved to be costly as Lawson discarded his worst score and won the Championship by two points, with Clarke in second and Cubillos in third.

The winning team not only walked away as World Champions they also had new footwear; six pairs of Dubarry Ultima Boots, courtesy of event sponsor Dubarry of Ireland. In addition to this they were also awarded with a Raymarine C90W widescreen multifunctional display unit and six wireless man overboard Lifetags, courtesy of event sponsor Raymarine. The icing on the cake was winning the Round the Island Race and getting to take home the Pigbags Bean bag.

Chris Mansfield, Rear Commodore Sailing of the Royal Southern Yacht Club thanked the event sponsors; Raymarine, Dubarry of Ireland, Pike Pictures, the Dailysail and Pigbags for their generosity in supplying such a fantastic array of prizes for the competitors. He also thanked the team of volunteer race officers, led by Tony Lovell, for all their hard work on the water with a customary bottle of Gin. Finally the biggest thank you went to the competitors and class association for making the trip to the Hamble and providing such a fantastic spectacle on the water for their first World Championship.